Three police vehicles, several police officers in uniform and plainclothes detectives, and responded to a report of a stolen iPad Tuesday. Signals from the iPad were tracked to the Madison in the CVS plaza at the corner of the Boston Post Road and Route 79, according to people at the scene who were questioned by police.
Police said Wednesday that the iPad was not recovered in Madison.
People at the scene who were questioned by police said that they were told that the iPad was stolen from an Apple store at 65 Broadway, New Haven, CT. "The iPad was signed on at Starbucks ... for a moment," said one person at the scene. "So they are canvassing the area."
Ways to track lost, stolen iPads
A spokeswoman from the Apple store in New Haven referred calls to the media department of Apple. A message left at that number Wednesday afternoon was not immediately returned.
Jerry Zigmont, from Madison, CT-based Mac Works, said he didn't know anything about the specific incident Tuesday, but he said there are ways to track lost or stolen iPads.
If Find My iPad is activated, Zigmont said, a lost or stolen iPad can be tracked once it logs on to WiFi.
Find My iPad allows users to locate missing iPad on a map
According to the Apple website, Find My iPad, available on Mac devices iOS5 or later, allows users to locate a missing iPad on a map, display a message or play a sound to help you find it, remotely set a passcode, and do a remote wipe to restore factory settings and clear your information. The Apple website also says that the Find My iPhone app, which can be downloaded from the Apple store onto an iPhone, can help locate a missing iPad.
Another way to track an iPad is through the device's built-in GPS, Zigmont said.
"If you get an iPad with Verizon or AT&T, you pay a little over a hundred dollars more, and then the device has a built-in radio that connects to those networks," Zigmont said.
iPad owners can take precautions to protect their device
That radio can be used by law enforcement authorities to track the device if it is stolen.
For people who have a lost or stolen Apple product, Apple provides information on their website.
Additional advice for iPad owners is provided by blogger Anna Pulley on SF Weekly. She said iPad (and iPhone) owners should know their serial numbers, use a passcode key, turn their SIM PIN on, and make sure the iPhone/iPad is up to date. To read more, go to her blog post on SF Weekly.
Earlier this month, Apple released the third-generation iPad, with an improved display, camera, and wireless connection.
